Page 34 of Let Me Love You

His brother had said he’d been heavily drinking, and I’d assumed he was drunk, but he hadn’t slurred since I’d arrived.

Smirking, he motioned for me to come closer, but I kept my hands to my shoulders, feeling my body blush with embarrassment.

The man before me was all hard and rigid lines, and I was the opposite. I’d never had washboard abs even before pregnancy, and working to get them now wasn’t on my to-do list. I’d rather enjoy cheesecake and eat chips and salsa while binge-watching shows on Netflix.

“Maria?” He peered at me with a question in his eyes. “Don’t you tell me that idiota ex of yours is in your head right now. If you’re thinking about what he said today, so help me ...” He was no longer beneath the spray of the water, and yet the cooler air striking him didn’t make him go remotely limp.

“I’m just ... well.” I gripped my shoulders a touch harder. “You’re like this Greek god before me.”

“Italian,” he shot back, nearly smiling despite whatever grave news he’d received earlier.

But then Thomas and his mother infiltrated my thoughts, and their not-so-kind words painted vicious strokes through my mind. “I’m curvy, Thomas was right.” I thought about my stomach next. “Soft.” I shook my head. “I have hips. Thighs. An ass. And, well, life’s just too short not to eat bread.” I shrugged, still holding my shoulders.

His lips twitched as if torn whether he wanted to smile or scowl. The mention of Thomas was probably to blame for the latter. “I love watching you eat, especially my food,” he finally said. “And if you think for one second I don’t love everything about you just as you are ...” Instead of finishing his words, he surprised me by swallowing the space between us. “Lower your arms and let me look at what’s mine.”

The rough command alone would’ve done me in, but the way he’d snapped out “mine” had me feeling dizzy with desire, as if I were already on the precipice of an orgasm.

“Tesoro,” he said in a calmer voice this time, dragging a finger along the contour of my cheek while staring into my eyes. “If you walk away from me, I will snap. I can promise you that.” He swallowed. “You’re the only one capable of keeping me from ...” He closed his eyes. “The only one who can save me when this is all over.”

Over? “From what?”

“From hell, Maria.” His lids slowly parted. “From hell,” he repeated in a solemn tone that time.

“Enzo,” I whispered, unsure what to say or do. “Talk to me. Now you really are scaring me.” I let go of my shoulders to hold his muscular biceps, slick with water droplets. “Tell me what’s going on.”

He bowed his head to mine and in a shaky voice shared, “The man my brothers and I murdered wasn’t responsible for Bianca’s death. He was framed.”

Your brothers helped you kill him? And wait ... what? He was innocent? My body went cold at his words as disbelief grabbed hold of me.

“The man was still a killer, just not her killer.” He eased his head back, and instead of the harsh look that’d been there since the moment I walked into his place tonight, I saw the twenty-four-year-old young man in mourning before me. Sad. Hurt. Angry and broken. “The day Bianca died, though, I died, too. Part of me, at least,” he said in a hoarse voice. “That’s my problem, don’t you see? I only have half of me to give you. And you deserve someone who can give you their whole world, not just a piece.”

My lip wobbled at the threat of tears, unsure how to talk without a sob escaping. But before I could find the strength to speak, he shifted away from my touch and went to the shower and turned off the water.

His hands went to his hips as he faced me. “I’m sorry, I was wrong. I can’t—”

“I just want to be here for you, Enzo,” I cut him off as I stepped before him. “Let me in. Stop pushing me away when it should be obvious by now I’m not going anywhere.” Let me love you.

He reached for me and drew me against his body a second later, and my tits smashed against his damp skin. He held me tight, setting his chin on top of my head, and I lost track of how long he held me like that before we went into his bedroom.

He offered me a tee of his to sleep in, and he pulled on a pair of boxer briefs while I swapped my work pants for his shirt. His eyes never left my body the entire time I changed, and chills scattered across my skin at the way he looked at me.

Once in bed, he cradled me beneath his comforter, and little did he know he was still giving me the only non-naughty number on my list and the one that meant so much to me: falling asleep in his arms.

NINE

Enzo

With my sweatpants on, I went into the kitchen and chased down two Advil with black coffee, hating the harsh pain in my temples from drinking way more than normal last night. For once in my life, I’d wanted to lose control. And I nearly had with Maria.

Spotting my phone on the counter where I’d left it, I hesitantly flipped it over. The screen lit up with far too many texts I wasn’t prepared to face.

I thumbed through the notifications, then shut off the screen, deciding I wanted to see the woman of my dreams asleep in my bed one more time before my world flipped upside down.

Pocketing my phone, I went back into my bedroom armed with my coffee and mixed emotions. How was I going to leave her later?

I leaned into the interior doorframe, studying her. Part of her face was covered by her long, thick hair. She must’ve been hot, because she’d shoved the covers down, and my white tee was bunched at her hips, showing her long, tan legs and a hint of her panties.

She shifted to her side, propping her hands beneath her face, but she remained peacefully asleep, and my heart ached at the sight of her in my bed, where I wanted her to spend every night for the rest of our lives.

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